IPL 10 : Match 18- DD vs KKR, Preview and Prediction

Delhi Daredevils have suddenly found their feet and Kolkata Knight Riders look very good indeed.

Tonight the Delhi Daredevils and Knight Riders will be battling out each other at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. Both the teams won their last match that was at their respective home grounds. Therefore, we cannot have a clear picture of how things will go in the match, while we are doing today’s match prediction.

Having started their campaign on a high against Gujarat Lions, KKR lost to Mumbai Indians before making a strong comeback with back-to-back wins at home against Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

KKR’s batting has really come good, with Gambhir now holding on to the orange cap with a total of 182 runs from three innings, at an average of 91 and a strike rate of 144.44.But the next KKR batsman among the top 10 run-getters is Chris Lynn, who is now out of action.
Their lethal bowling department has both quality spinners and pacers such as Umesh Yadav, Chris Woakes and Trent Boult, and KKR attack may make the going tough for Delhi’s otherwise reliable batting line-up.

Delhi, on the other hand, had a disappointing start to IPL 10 with a loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore, but bounced back with two consecutive wins – both away (RPS) and home(KXIP) – and they would look to maintain the winning momentum on Monday.
Delhi, however, have in their ranks Sanju Samson, the only centurion of IPL 10 so far, Sam Billings, Rishabh Pant, Corey Anderson and Chris Morris – all of whom have managed to deliver so far.

They have the best bowling line up with veteran Zaheer Khan, Pat Cummins, chris Moris in the pace Amit Mishra ,Shahbaz Nadeem with spin sharing the bowling honours.

Current Status in IPL 2017

Playing Combinations:

Delhi Daredevils

The only area of concern for the Daredevils is the form of Karun Nair, they might be tempted to bring in Aditya Tare in place of Nair, but the former also failed to make an impact in the two IPL matches he has played in this season.
The four foreign players are unlikely to be changed as Sam Billings, Corey Anderson, Chris Morris, and Pat Cummins all impressed during their 51-run win over Kings XI Punjab on Saturday.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Despite the injury to Chris Lynn, the Kolkata-based franchise seem to have a well-settled team with Sunil Narine being used as a pinch-hitter at the top of the order.
Shakib Al Hasan, who was an integral part of the KKR side in previous seasons, is yet to feature this year. His inclusion at the expense of Colin de Grandhomme could be the only change to the Knight Riders side.

Head to Head

Sunil Narine has a poor economy rate in IPL matches at the Kotla; from 5 matches at the venue, he has an economy rate of 8.21.

Our Prediction for the game:

This is a very difficult match to call. Delhi have the home advantage, but Kolkata have been in top form during this year’s IPL and that sees us leaning towards a win for Gambhir’s side.

Our prediction goes with DD 57% – KKR 43%

Feroz Shah Kotla is known to favour spinners. It will be better to set a target than chasing as playing under lights under turning ball would be difficult. It will be more of a battle between spinners from both teams. So to summarise, giving today’s match prediction is really tough as both the teams look good to outdo the other. Also, it will be tough to speculate on who will win the match today.